The Library of Congress in Washington, DC announced the details of its 2017-2018 concert season which includes a bevy of premieres and special performances of which a handful are focused on jazz. Included in that jazz programming is a new commission for violin and piano by Esperanza Spalding, though perhaps the end result musically may be more in line with the other commissions by Harrison Birtwistle and Quatuor Diotima, modern classical composers all.
The series includes a performance on Friday, December 8 by McCoy Tyner with special guest Joe Lovano. And on Thursday, March 18, 2018, guitarist Julian Lage makes his debut at the Library with a set featuring his trio of Scott Colley and Kenny Wolleson.
The jazz programming, which is supported by a grant from The Reva and David Logan Foundation, also includes presentations by jazz scholars and authors, such as John Szwed’s “Jelly Roll Morton in Washington” and Robert O’Meally’s lecture “Transblucency: Duke Ellington, The Washingtonians and the Realm of the Visual,” on recently rediscovered clips of Duke from the LOC archives.
Tickets to the performances are free, but you must sign up for tickets in advance through EventBrite. You can find more information about the series here.
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